The History & Societal Impacts of the iPod

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From the late 1990’s through the early 2000s, one of the most popular forms of technology was the MP3
player. People were able to walk around while listening to music, which seemed unheard of during the
era of the CD player. However in 2000, Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, wanted to create a better version
of an MP3 player. 

Head of the hardware department of Apple was Jon Rubinstein and it was his job to create it. After a few
weeks, he said that technology was not advanced enough to create such a device. The product would
either be too bulky, the battery would be bad, or it would have limited memory. Fortunately, Rubinstein
takes yearly trips to Toshiba, Tokyo which is one of Apple’s hardware suppliers. There, they showed him
their new prototype for a 1.8-inch hard drive. With the new technology, Rubinstein recruited engineer
Tony Fadell to work alongside him on the hardware. Together they created the first iPod which launched
in 2001. The iPod held 1,000 songs and cost $400. 
Image result for first ipod
The First Generation iPod, released on October 23, 2001


Unfortunately, the public did not give great feedback. Many people thought it was too expensive for such
an average device. People preferred using their original, cheaper device over the iPod. Although the
beginning of the launch was not successful, it all turned around in October of 2002. Apple launched an
update of iTunes (iTunes 4.1) that was compatible with Windows 2000 and XP, which allowed for
thousands of more people to listen to music more easily. 
As Apple grew as a company, they expanded their products. Every year, they released an updated version of the iPod before. For example, in 2003 Apple released its third generation iPod, which had touch-sensitive buttons under the screen. Also with this, Apple introduced the Apple Music store, which had 200,000 songs sold for 99 cents each. This was a huge change in the music industry because up until then, downloading music was free. However, Jobs argued that the ease and simplicity of the iPod outweighs the price of songs and that downloading free music online is considered stealing. He believed that his customers would want to do the right thing.




Image result for ipod generations in order

The iPod left many impacts on our society. First, it reconstructed the electronic industry. Before the iPod, people used MP3 players, and the new iPod was faster, easier, and more convenient for consumers to use. The iPod was seen as the best portable music device in the industry. Second, it changed the music industry. iTunes, which is the online music store paired with Apple, has become one of the largest well-known billion dollar online stores in the world. Often times when people would buy an iPod, they would start using iTunes as well. Lastly, the iPod shifted the way people viewed Apple as a company. Before the iPod, people only saw Apple as an expensive computer store. With the new cheap iPods, people began going to the Apple store more. Because of this, people would end up buying new Apple products to replace their older devices. With this cycle of people buying more Apple products, the company eventually grew to become the world’s largest and most expensive information technology company.
Sources: 

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